COMMONSENSE measures such as cutting waste and increasing cropping times will go a long way towards addressing future food shortages, according to one of Wales’ largest growers.

Really Welsh, currently harvesting leeks at its Flintshire farm, has extended its growing season by almost two months by using modern plant varieties and traditional land management techniques.

Commercial director Richard Arnold said the company aimed to maximise outputs while cutting waste and improving processing, harvesting and retail efficiencies.

“We dress our leeks and pack them on site to avoid the wasteful transport of surplus material,” he said.

“Traditionally 25% of leeks went to waste with supermarkets wanting to sell only the white shanks. We’re now selling 15%-20% more per leek and the rest is being processed into ready meals.”

Mr Arnold was commenting in the wake of a Government-commissioned report, published yesterday, which warned of major failings in the global food system.

Without action, the pressure on food supplies will increase in the face of a rising world population, competition for land, water and energy and the effects of climate change, it said.

Experts behind the report suggested that food prices could rise by 50% by 2050.

Food markets are likely to become more volatile, with price spikes like that seen in 2007/08 when rioting broke out and an extra 100m people went hungry.

Government chief scientist Prof Sir John Beddington said: “There’s a very large risk of quite a substantial increase in food prices in the next 30 to 40 years.

“This risk is such it demands urgent action on all components of the food system – supply, demand and making the food system work more efficiently.”

The report calls for “sustainable intensification” of agriculture to produce more food from the land available – as there was no new land to be brought into production – without harming the environment.

Prof Beddington said biotechnology, such as genetically modified (GM) crops, is “extremely important”. The report itself stressed that no option should be rejected.

But it was just one of many measures needed, along with the need to improve farmers’ skills, invest in scientific knowledge and boost infrastructure, he said.

Last week the European Parliament adopted a resolution to tackle volatile prices which it said had been driven up by a combination of falling stocks and commodity speculation. It’s estimated speculators accounted for up to 50% of recent food price hikes.

Farmers’ Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan said recent natural disasters, such devastating floods in Australia and Sri Lanka, were a reminder of the fragility of the global food system.

He called for a Common Agricultural Policy that made food production a priority, rather than environmental measures.

“I believe that Wales, with its abundant natural resources, can play a significant role in meeting the growing demand for food, but it is vital that the right policies are put into place to avoid shortages and scarcity in the years ahead.”

Richard Arnold said GM was not a magic bullet to cure global hunger.

He said: “Flintshire is a cracking place to grow leeks but we’ve introduced new rotations and techniques to maximise the land’s output.

“Traditional plant breeding also has a big role to play: each year we trial 10 new leek varieties, retain one or two, and we’re now cropping much longer.”